Dead Men Tell no Tales
by uniqueandfree
Summary: Grace Black grew up with a pirate as a father. At 15 years old, she watched as her mother was shot and killed by a pirate in their home, and as Port Royal went up in flames after a raid. She fled in search of her father. What will happen when she runs into the people her father was trying to save her from? And when she becomes who her father never wanted her to be?
1. Prologue

"Grace Black." Captain Jack Sparrows hand gripped her shoulder, and he talked straight into her ear. His breath was hot on the back of her neck, and his grip tightened with every word he said. She smirked. "Took you long enough." She yanked her shoulder from his grip and turned around. Her black curls fell loosely over her shoulders as she pulled her hat off. She shook out her hair.

"I should've known." Jack mumbled. Grace stood before the men. In front of her, Gibbs, Ragetti, and Pintel held mugs of beer. Grace laughed and walked over to Jack, running her hand down his front. "You never thought this is where we'd be standing. Did you?" Jack grabbed her wrist and threw it down.

"I-" Jack opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a gun shot piercing the room. Mugs dropped, bottles were smashed, and every drunken pirate stood still.

"Tortuga is not a place you should be, Ms. Black." Grace paused, and the smirk that played on her lips was wiped away in the matter of seconds. A man clumped down the stairs behind her.

"Hector!" Jack's voice rang, causing the drunken chaos to resume. "Grace Black. Fancy seeing you here. After you played a role in almost getting me and a dozen other pirates killed, I'm surprised you can show your face in such a place." Grace smiled, "Well Barbossa. I wasn't exactly playing the role of Grace Black the past few months." Barbossa laughed, "Of course. You honestly think you could've passed under my radar? You're in a hell of a situation Grace Black. And don't think that daddy can get you out of this one." Grace lunged forward and grabbed at Barbossa's top. Gibbs pulled her back. "Watch yourself, miss." "Do NOT speak of my father." She growled through clenched teeth.

Barbossa smiled. "Ms. Black. You want to get out of here alive, I presume." Grace glared at him. "Yes." Barbossa picked up her torn up hat and set it on her head. "Then I believe you owe me something." "What do you want, Barbossa." Grace said backing up.

Barbossa purred, "I want you. And that includes your ship."


	2. Chapter 1

_"James?" Grace's mother's voice was hopeful, yet confused. Grace stayed behind the bathroom door, ear pressed up against the wood to listen in "James. What are you doing here?" Heavy footsteps walked through the front hall. Grace held her breath. "My father." she whispered. "I wanted to see her." James voice was sad, empty almost. "James. It's been 9 years.. She doesn't know about you. About what you do." "That's why she's with you. That's why I left 9 years ago." His voice was rising. "James. Until you are done with this, you can't see her." James's fist hit a table. "That's not fair!" "I'm not putting my daughter on a ship with a bunch of scummy, rum-drunk pirates! Now leave, James.." Her mother paused. "And please, don't come back."_

Grace Black studied her face in the mirror over her side table. She sighed, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. It was long and black with settle curls. Her mother always told her how much she loved it. Grace always asked where she got her hair from, since her mothers was just straight and blond, but her mother always avoided the question.

She hurried down the stairs and out the door onto the empty streets of Port Royal. She looked around, it was awfully quiet for the fact that Jack Sparrow was just captured today. She sighed and jogged down to the blacksmith's. Opening the door, she looked around inside, "Will?" She called into the dark. "Over here, Grace!" Grace smiled. She had grown up watching Will Turner craft swords and woo over a certain Elizabeth Swann. He was like an older brother to her.

"I heard about your run in with Jack Sparrow." Grace said running her hands along the worktables. Will sighed, "Jack Sparrow is a force to be reckoned with." Grace laughed. "So.. Where is he?" Will turned. "Grace. Sparrow does not know about your father. You need to stop." "My father is a pirate. I'm just wondering who the hell he is." Grace shook her head. "Don't you ever wonder about your father?" She knew she hit a nerve. Will stopped talking, and wouldn't even glance in her direction. "Forget it." She turned and opened the door. "He's in the cells." Will said quietly. Grace smiled and walked out the door.

"Captain Jack Sparrow." Grace purred walking down the stairs to the cells. "I thought I'd find you here." She walked up the cell gate and looked in at the drunken mess of a pirate sprawled out on the ground.

"What can I do for a young beauty like yourself?" Jack sat up and studied the girl in front of him. Grace rolled her eyes. "I need to know who my father is." Jack laughed. "What? You think because I'm a pirate I would know who a fancy man in Port Royal would be?" He placed his hands behind his head and laid back down. "No. My father is James Black." Sparrow sat up slowly. "Black? Captain Black?" He smirked. "I guess that makes you Grace Black." Grace paused. "And what if I am?"

"Your father is Captain James Black. And unless you want to visit a certain, squid-faced, immortal, pirate, then you're out of luck, love. Savvy?" Grace stared at him. "I don't know who you're talking about, but my father was a good man. A pirate. But a good man."

Jack laughed. "Your father was a good man indeed. But as soon as he got rid of you, he become a mirthless pirate." Grace held her breath. "Well.." She was cut off. Cannons blows echoed through the basement.

"Cannons." Jack stood up looking through the window at the top of his cell. "You best be leaving, love. Those are Black Pearl cannons. Nothing good comes of Black Pearl cannons." Grace studied Jack for a second, turned, than ran out.

Guards were running all over, troops were forming, and Grace was in the middle of it. Port Royal was under attack. She ran home, cutting through alleyways, being sure to stay low and out of sight of any pirate.

She ran inside her house, slamming the front door behind her and leaned against it. "Grace, darling, I've been looking for you!" Her mother came rushing down the stairs. "Mother, you need to go upstairs. It's not safe. Pirates are here, and bombing the port." "Grace. Go upstairs and lock your door." Her mother pulled her away from the door. Grace nodded.

She ran up the stairs to her room and pulled a ring out of a drawer. The ring was gold and a green stone. Her father gave it to her when she was born. If she needed to make sure anything stayed safe, it was the ring. All of a sudden gunshots rang throughout her house. "Mom?!" Grace called. "Mom!" She hurried down the stairs and stopped short on the landing. Four men stood around her mother, all asking questions about the Black family. "Mom.." She whispered. Next thing she knew a gun was shot and her mother was on the floor covered in blood.

"Oh my god." She coughed out, covering her mouth. She squatted down behind the balcony railings so the men didn't see her. The men looked around, and then fled out the door.

"Oh my god. Mother!" She ran down the rest of the stairs to her mother's body. "Mother!" She choked back tears. She clutched the ring in her hand and turned to look at the door. She had to find those men. And she had to figure why they wanted to know about her family.


	3. Chapter 2

"Will!" Grace screamed into the blacksmith shop. "Will! I need your help!" _Bloody hell. Where the hell are you. _She thought to herself as she slammed the door shut. The Port was empty, with no one walking around. The damage from the raid lay out around her and was a lot more apparent in the daylight. Buildings were blown in, carts were torn apart in piles, and heaps of rubble covered the streets.

"I need to find Will." Grace mumbled to herself. She turned and ran towards the ship docks, hoping to find a guard or two standing around. "What the hell!" Grace yelled.

"They stole the bloody ship, governor!" Grace heard voices at the top of the docks. She ran.

"Where's Will Turner?" She heaved when she got to the crowd. Norrington set down the map. "He's committed a crime against the crown. Right now he is wanted, Ms. Black." Grace caught her breath, "That's not what I asked. Where is he?" She demanded. "He's with Sparrow. And Elizabeth is gone as well." Governor Swann sputtered turning around. Grace's eyes darted between Norrington and the Governor. "What? Will left with Sparrow?" Norrington shook his head, "As of right now we don't know where he is. The Interceptor is in the hands of a pirate and a backstabber. I have no time to answer your questions, Ms. Black. Now please, leave us."

"Where do you suggest I go?" Grace demanded. "My mother was shot by the pirates that bombarded the Port. So I really have no where to 'leave you' to." Before they could say another word, Grace was gone.

She walked the docks. "Ms. Black!" She turned to see Governor Swann hurrying towards her. "Governor? I'm sorry-" He cut her off, "No time for apologies, my dear." He waved his hands in front of him. "My daughter is missing, and I'm sure that vile pirate Jack Sparrow had everything to do with it." He spat Jack's name.

Grace shook her head, "I don't doubt that, Governor. But was is it I can do about it?" The Governor looked at her, his eyes weary and pleading. "I don't know, Grace. But I do know how much you hung around with that blacksmith Turner."

"They asked about my father. About the Black family name" Grace murmured quietly. The Governor nodded, "Grace, darling. There is a lot to be learned about your father. All I can say is that the trouble those pirates caused was for a reason."

Grace nodded. "Well," Governor Swann started, "I best be leaving, for Norrington has a tight hand on this search." Grace let out a small laugh, "I believe so, considering how everyone is rooting for them." The Governor nodded and smiled, resting a firm hand on her shoulder. "You're a great women, Ms. Black. Do not let the fact that your father branded your name to piracy keep you from doing great things with the Company." And with that, he turned and walked down the dock back to the meeting.

Grace searched the docks for a way out of Port Royal. Not only was the Governors daughter in trouble, Will Turner was nowhere to be seen, and rumor has it he left with that rum-drunk pirate Sparrow.

"Out of everyone you could've commandeered a bloody ship with, you choose Jack." Grace muttered, annoyed. She knew better than anyone that Will was in love with Ms. Swann and he more than likely chose Jack to accompany him on a search. And everyone knows that Jack Sparrow is one infamous pirate, who knows the seas better than anyone.

Grace wandered the docks for what felt like hours in search of anything that would float. Merchant ships, and the Dauntless were tied down at the dock; The Interceptor was in the hands of pirates.

Small one sail sailboats decorated the smaller docks, and rocked gently on the waves. "This will have to do…" She mumbled to herself, staring at a small muddy sailboat. Knowing she couldn't leave without some sort of helpful tools, she went back to the blacksmith shop

Opening the door slowly, hoping Brown wasn't working and maybe just snoozing in the back chair, she peeked inside. It was dark, damp, and empty. She creped in, and looked around slowly in search of a sword and anything else that would help in her endeavors. She grabbed a sword off a worktable and slid it carefully into the casing.

As she was leaving, she saw a change of Will's clothes in a heap in the corner. She grabbed them up and quickly changed into them. The white shirt was baggy, causing her to look less like a girl. The pants were the same way, and she tucked them into the pair of grubby, scuffed black boots. Throwing her hair into a bun and tucking into the hat, she hurried down the hill to the docks.

It was early evening and the docks were crowded with fisherman bringing in their catch, merchant sailors unloading and loading the boats, and young boys running around with poles and nets. Grace carefully made her way around the people, waving to the one's she knew and nodding a greeting to the one's she didn't.

When she got to the small boat she had her eyes on before, she looked around to make sure nobody was giving her a suspicious look. Smiling to herself, she untied the boat from the dock and climbed in.

"What that hell am I getting myself into…" Grace murmured as she pulled up the sail. The boom swung around, almost knocking her off the ship if it wasn't for her quick duck. "Bloody hell." She moaned. Pulling a compass out of the pocket of her pants, she sat down and opened it up. "A pirates life for me.." she sang softly, setting sail to the horizon.


End file.
